From Katherine to Kim
by Misao Kitsune
Summary: Katherine River is Near's older sister. That is their story of how they went to Wammy's House and what happened to them there. I am really sorry about my grammar, I am Brazilian and english is not my first language. I hope you read and like it. Give me a chance, guys!
1. Orphan

I run into my brother's bedroom and wake him up before, without even explain what is happening, hold his hand and guide him to the false bottom of the wardrobe, something we built together for safety. Inside there, I turn on a flashlight and illuminate the place.

"What is happening?" He asks after we are safe. But I can't speak. My breathing is too accelerated and the damages on my heart are too horrible to speak without cry. "Kat? Say something!" My nine-year-old brother can't keep quiet without an explanation, just like me.

"Nate… I will try to tell you… Without cry." I sob once before recuperate the control. "But you must promise me you will not make even a sound until I say it is all right". He nods in agreement.

After one second of hesitation, I give my first try on telling Nate what I saw downstairs.

"Right. Can you speak now?" He asks.

"Yes. Well… You know I don't have a deep sleep, right? So… I… I woke up with a noise downstairs and went to check if was everything ok. When I went to the stairs to look… Oh, Nate… There… There was a man and he had a gun and… Mom and dad still there. I don't know if anyone saw me, I just needed to come and hide you". I can't stop sobbing as I speak. Must be hard to understand me, once I can't speak properly because of the sobs.

"Kat… You mean that… Mom and dad…?" His eyes are full of tears, which will soon fall trough his face.

"I don't know, Nate. I… I am… I am so scared!" I whisper. Then I hear screams and horrible strangled noises before… It was a shot. And another one. And it happens again, again and again.

It is over. I don't think they survived. And I do not think it is safe to get out of the wardrobe. That man probably still at the house, looking for every single thing what he may be able to steal. Nate starts sobbing, denunciating his psychological situation. _Please, don't cry right now_, I beg mentally. That man can't hear us, or both of us will be raped and killed or kidnaped. Well, at least I will be raped.

I cover Nate's mouth with my hand and turn off the flashlight. Some tears fall on my fingers and his body is shaking.

We hear a noise out of the wardrobe and our muscles freeze. I can't move and feel his body stop moving as well and I don't feel his breath anymore. I kiss his white hair and close my eyes, hoping he is too stupid to check inside the wardrobe.

"Katherine, I love you." He whispers.

"I love you, Nate." I sob as low as I can. Tears wet his hair and I wonder if Nate and me will be alive tomorrow. Out of the wardrobe, I can hear the man's fake kind voice, trying to attract us from wherever we are.

"Hey, kids, come here! Come play with uncle Josh! I will take you to your parents, come!" _Yes, of course you are, you are going to kill us as well. At least I know your name, bastard._ I answer mentally. I listen to the noise of the man dropping everything down to look for us. Soon he will drop the wardrobe as well, so I press my hand even harder over Nate's mouth and bite my lower lip. Oh, my god, I am so scared! If I die, it's fine, but I am the oldest sister, I need to guarantee my brother's future. I need to protect him.

We spend at least one our without make a sound as the man look for us without find even a clue. Sometimes he was so close that I was sure he would find us. I could hear his breathing out of the fake bottom without discover it. Then, one our after the moment we heard him going out of the bedroom, he leaves the house.

Nate starts to cry and he cries louder than ever before. I hug him and make him rest his head on my breast, stroking his white hair and trying to control his tears, which drench my pyjama shirt. Nevertheless, now that I can allow my tears to fall as much as I want to, I can't cry. I guess I arrested it so much that I only will be able to cry next mourning. But Nate cries until the moment when he sleeps. Then he makes me sleep with his deep, calm breath.

≥•≤ **^•^ **_**NEXT MOURNING…**_** ^•^ ≥•≤**

"Kat? Kat? Katherine!" My brother calls me. It must be mourning, once Nate always wakes up at 8 o'clock. We spend the night inside the wardrobe. Now it's getting a bit hard to breath.

"What?" I open my eyes and don't see anything, because it is too dark here inside. "I think we can go out now, but I go first."

"I'm thirsty." He almost begs me.

"Me too, but we can't go downstairs. Let's just drink from the bathroom, it will not be bad to us if we do it only once." We silently walk trough the house until the bathroom and I open the cold water. Both of us drink as much as we can, as if we had spent a week in a desert. Then, we finally stop drinking and I go to the phone to try to call the police.

Nate and me go down and I hold his hand, both of us nervous about what we will see after the stairs.

"Mom!" My brother's childish voice sounds scared and upset as both of us run to met our mother's body. "Kat… Mom! Mom, please, wake up!" He screams, crying hysterically. Tears are falling again trough my cheeks, but now more sorely. Her body lies on the floor, still on her pyjamas. The blood formed a pool around her body. There are holes all over her chest and her face is even paler.

"Nate… She will not wake up." I sob. I just need him to stop talking. I can't keep listening to his hopes.

"But she needs to! Katherine… She needs to wake up!" He tries.

"Please, stop it, she will not wake up, she is dead, Nate. She is already dead." I say. He closes his eyes, finally accepting it. "I'm sorry, I know exactly how you feel, but she will not wake up. And Dad will not come back either. You know it, right? You are a smart boy, Nate… You know they wouldn't survive."

"I know… But I need them to come back." His eyes show that he knows the truth. I open my arms for him to fit on me and he comes. I had never hugged him so hard before. "What are we going to do now?" He asks. Somehow, I make myself stop crying and push my brain to start working.

"The police will come soon. Probably is better to have a bag and be ready to leave." I say, trying to keep thinking.

"Okay. I just want to say goodbye. And I think you should do it as well." I nod and both of us kneel to give our mother a hug and cry on her lap one last time. Then we do the same with our father. I kiss his forehead one last time before holding Nate's hand and pulling him trough the stairs.

We start organizing stuff that the thief didn't want to keep or either sell. There are family pictures, his robots, my books, my phone, which I took to inside the wardrobe last night, my laptop, which was well hidden on my bedroom, once I've been paranoid since I was nine years old. We also take some clothes and both of us get dressed before going back to the stairs and watch when four men get into our house.

"Hello, kids… I guess there is no point on saying good mourning" Says a man who seems to be a social worker.

"It depends." I start. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

"What?" He asks. I roll my eyes. Stupid.

"Gandalf said it in The Hobbit". I explain. "You know? The Hobbit? Bilbo Baggins? Gandalf the Grey? Thorin Oakenshield? Gollum? You know, the one that, in the movie, keeps saying 'my precious' with a weird voice?" I say the name of the most known characters.

"Oh! The Lord of the Rings. I see. Gandalf is nice." Yeah, I don't think there is any point on discussing it with this man. "Well, why don't you come here to explain me what happened last night?"

"Yes, sure. Come, Nate." I hold my brother's hand again and we go downstairs. Three men are analysing my parent's bodies meanwhile I explain to the man, Peter Scott, what happened yesterday night and today's mourning.

"Are you the only children in the house?"

"Yes. Hm… Can I ask you what is going to happen to us after we are finish here?" Asks Nate.

"Well, I think I should talk to your sister about this."

"No. Nate has the right to hear as well. He will know it, no matter what you tell me. So or you tell me here, or you just don't tell me at all. Both of us know that our parents are dead. We know they were murdered and we are alive because of a miracle. We know that we are going to an orphanage or worse after this. If you are also going to separate us, just tell us now, because nothing worse can happen, Mr Scott." I am not quite sure of where did this new way of speak came from, but I like it and Nate seems to like it as well, because he smiles at me.

"I will not separate you. I am taking you to a place called Wammy's House, it is an orphanage where you will live from now on. Believe me, you will like that place. My best friend was raised there and he decided to keep working there as an assistant. We are leaving as soon as possible."

"Okay. We got our bags ready."

"One of the agents already packed everything you had left in your bedrooms and we will take to the Wammy's, where you can select what you want."

Finally the man guide us to a black car and tells us to get in it. I hesitate and look behind for a moment. After this, after getting into the car, I will never have my life back. Well, I wouldn't get it anyway. It will be better if I have my little brother with me. I obey him and Nate follows me and we keep looking back as the car starts moving. We look at the house in which we lived. We look at the house where we used to be happy, without know if we will feel it again. I honestly doubt it.

I allow one last tear to fall trough my face.


	2. The Wammy's House

The car stops again when reaches the destination, in Winchester, U.K. We spend exactly four hours in the car without stop. According to the clock inside the car, now are 12:34 and, without a proper breakfast, I was supposed to be starving, but I am not.

The car parks in front of an enormous building that looks a little bit like an old church, with long windows and many floors. There is also a tower in the mid of the building. The iron gates are quite intimidating, but the place itself looks very cosy, especially because of the huge garden full of trees, but still with space for children to play. Oh, yes, the outside is full of children playing, what makes me feel weirdly safe. Walking to the gate, there is an old man wearing a black suit. I have to admit that he looks like a butler.

"You can go now. That man will tell you everything you need to know." Says Mr Scott.

"Goodbye. I would say 'nice to meet you', but…" I answer. My brother just doesn't say anything at all before going out of the car. Again we hold each other's hand. It's quite cold today and I don't have a coat with me right now, so I'm shaking. It's autumn and my birthday is coming… What day is today? Well, I guess it doesn't matter.

I try to remove this kind of though from my head as we walk to met the man. When we finally reach the gate, it is already open and waiting for us to go inside. Then, it creaks as it closes again. I guess it needs a few drops of oil, but that's ok.

"Hello, kids. You must be Katherine and Nate River. First of all, I am sorry about your loss and hope you get adapted soon. Now I will ask you to follow me and, please, do not introduce yourselves to anyone by your real name." So I will leave behind also this part of me? I will have to change my name? "The Director of the orphanage, Roger, will tell you more about everything. Come with me." He says. "Oh, yes, you can call me Watari."

Still nervous, I hold Nate's hand even harder as we walk following the man.

We are crossing the garden, walking to the huge building between the children. People here have ages between three and seventeen years old. Their activities vary between talking, playing sports like football or actually playing, with toys. Notice that people with age around seventeen were playing with little children as well. One of my hands goes to my white hair and starts to curl it.

Suddenly, something comes from somewhere and hits me, dropping my small and light body on the ground.

"What the fuck…?" I yell, scared and a bit hurt. There is something crushing my ribs… Something far bigger than me… A boy, a few years older than me. A blonde boy with a fairly long hair and wearing black clothes is lying over my body.

"Hum… Hello, human." He still over me. "Sorry, did I hurt you?"

"I little bit, I have to admit. Can you please get out before I actually get hurt?" I do not feel well enough to be dropped down by a crazy gothic guy or anything like this.

"Mello, can you be a bit more careful with new kids? It's not a lot to ask, is it?" Watari seems angrier than me. Nate is not happy either.

"No, Watari, it is not." He says before taking a chocolate bar from his pocket and start eating. Why would someone keep chocolate inside the pocket? He is such a weird person! How did Watari called him again? Mello, wasn't it? "So, who are they?"

"We can speak, you know?" I say, getting stressed. The blonde, Mello, looks at me with a sarcastic expression.

"Yes, of course you can, Snowdrop." Oh, that's great, the first joke about my evident albinism. Yes, I do have white hair, pale skin and purple eyes, so what?

"Mello, I want you to guide this two to Roger's room, can you do it for me? Without make them get in trouble?"

"Why don't you do it yourself, if you are that worried? C'mon, they are not that smart, not that important." Why is him talking about my brother and me as we weren't nothing but trash? Who is this guy and who does he think he is? What the hell is the problem with him?

"Just do it, I have to talk with L. And yes, they are that smart. Actually, they are competing with you for the first position. She has the same QI as you, actually. And the boy's is ever higher. You know, she is 170 and he is 190, almost the same as L's." Says Watari. Wait, L? Does he mean L, the greatest detective ever? Am I here to compete to succeed L? It can't be true. It can't be true at all. It's impossible, it is not something that happens, L wouldn't choose his successor like this, would him?

"Oh, fuck! Okay, I will do it. Come with me, Snowdrop. And bring the other white thing with you."

"That's not my name."

"But it can be, if you wish. We choose our codenames here, you know? My name is not Mello, that is the way I choose to be called. So, don't tell me your names!" He says in a playful voice, but doesn't smile.

"I don't want my codename to be Snowdrop." That's all I say.

"How do you want to be known here, then? What is your name first letter? You can tell me this, everyone will know anyway."

"K." Suddenly he is trying to be nice to me. What is this guy's problem? Is it all because we are competing? "And I am not getting your problem, are you bipolar or anything like this?" Mello just faces me as I was an idiot.

"I am just being friendly. And… K… You could be called Karen or Katherine or… Katrina or… simply Key… Or Kim. Kim is nice." He says. Yeah, I will consider his suggestions. Not Katherine or Katrina, of course… or Karen, because it is too long for a codename. I'm between Key and Kim. "No matter how you want to be called, I will call you Snowdrop."

I roll my eyes and sigh before ask him to guide us to Roger's room. I honestly don't want to discuss my codename with Mello, someone who I just met. We can call me as he wants to, I don't mind. Nate holds my hand a little bit harder. I wonder what will be his codename.

We walk trough corridors and stairs as Mello shows us the orphanage, making a little tour until we reach Roger's room. When we finally get there, Mello opens the door to us.

Inside the room, sitting in an office chair behind a large desk, there is an old man who owns a refined appearance. In the desk, there is a plaque where is written "Roger", so I guess this man must be no one but Roger. Behind me, I hear the sound of Mello leaving the room. For some reason, I want him to stay.

"You must be Katherine and Nate, right?" Asks Roger. I nod and, beside me, Nate does the same. Then, Roger spends at least a half an hour telling us every single rule in the orphanage, when and where are our classes – Everyone has classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7am to 8pm, but there are self defence classes on Saturdays from 1pm to 2pm and swimming classes on Wednesdays from 2pm to 3pm. – And the everyday routine, when and where is the breakfast, the lunch and the dinner and where we can get extra food if we get hungry. He also tells me where is my bedroom and that I will share it with someone called Iris. Finally he reaches the subject I was a little bit scared about, the codename. But I took the conversation time to decide it. "Well, how do you wish to be called from now on?"

"I am going to be called Near." My brother says before I can even open my mouth. Near… It is a nice name… it's cute, actually. "What about you, Kat?"

"I wish to be called Kim." I say. Na… I mean, Near, looks at me as if I was crazy for accept Mello's suggestion. "I like the meaning of it, ok? Don't look at me like that."

"And what does it mean?" This time is Roger who speaks.

"It means gold in Vietnamese." I say. "It also means metal. I guess there are other meanings, but I like this ones." I say. Then, we are finally allowed to go to our bedrooms and arrange our stuff.

My bedroom is beside Near's, what will make things easier for both of us. With a little luck, we are going to be able to met sometimes during night… I don't want to sleep far from him. Actually I don't want to stay away from him at all.

≥•≤

I knock the door of my new bedroom and wait for a few seconds until it open, showing a girl around my age who's got grey-green eye and blue-black hair. She is also much taller than me, probably measuring about 1.65m. A cute, happy smile appears on her face and, instead of shaking my hand, she pulls me into a hard hug, jumping around and carrying me with her.

"You must be my new roommate! I never had a roommate! I am so happy!" She says hysterically, still jumping. Then, she finally releases me. "Oh, my god, you are so short! Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. My name is Iris, what is yours? Well, of course my name is not Iris and I am not asking you your real name either, so just tell me your codename." I feel a little bit confuse with all her speech, but it doesn't irritate me. I guess we are going to be good friends, and then she will start speaking a little bit less… Normally when someone speaks too much it is because this person doesn't have many people to talk to.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kim. I am glad you are my roommate. I hope we become good friends." This is all I can say. "Hum… Someone said that my luggage would be already here… Did him fool me?"

"Is it a huge purple bag? It is beside the wardrobe. And there is a backpack as well, a black one." She says, inviting me in with a gesture. I follow her and stop for a moment to look at the place.

It's a large ambient with white walls; two desks, one of them with a laptop; every kind of book can be found in the shelving above our desks. There is one wardrobe in which there are also drawers and a door to link the bedroom and the bathroom. There are one simple single bed, which has nothing covering the mattress, and a bunk bed in which only the bottom bunk is being used. I guess I will have to choose between them. Not a hard choice, actually. I always wanted a bunk bed…

"Can I take the upper bed?"

"Yes, sure. That bed was waiting for you since I'm three years old!" That was it. Those words were all I needed to start crying again. I know I promised to don't cry anymore, but it is so hard to hold! And… Iris was just three years old when she lost her parents. "Oh! Don't cry! I'm sorry, I didn't intent to make you cry, that was not what I meant…"

"I am not crying for myself… Were you three?"

"Yeah… Car crush. I was in my grandma's house… She couldn't take care of me, because she was too old… Sometimes she comes to visit me." She smiles, hugging me and trying to comfort me. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about death right after you lose your parents." Somehow, my tears automatically dry inside my eyes and I become a normal person again.

"That's ok. My parents died yesterday… My brother and me were hiding in the wardrobe meanwhile they were killed. I guess it is easier for me than for him, because at least I had a reason to wake up in today's mourning." I start reflecting about everything that happened before realising that I am not alone. I forgot about Iris for one second, actually, or I wouldn't say that. "Oh, sorry. What am I telling someone I just met? Sorry."

"Oh, Kim… Don't worry, you can tell me everything. Come, I will help you to unpack your stuff. And maybe you want to have a shower or get changed before the lunch…"

And that is what we do. Soon all my clothes are in the wardrobe, my books on the shelving and my laptop is on my desk. The sheets and pillows are on my bed and everything looks much more like… Home. I don't feel scared here. I feel safe. I don't feel as sad as I thought I would be. I'm really, really unhappy because I will never see my parents again. They will never make me laugh anymore… Or pick me at school, or give me a goodnight kiss… Or even fight with me because I did something wrong. They will never hug me and I will never again fight with Nate for my mother's lap. It breaks my heart, but I don't feel as lonely as I thought I would feel. I still have Near, right? He means everything to me now, so it will be all right if he is with me, right? Anyway, I feel safe in Wammy's House.

Then, before going out for lunch, I take a black and short skirt and a purple skinny shirt with long sleeves. The skirt appears just a little bit underneath the shirt, giving me a kind of mangá look and making Iris start jumping and screaming again, telling me that I am short and cute. She is like a child… I like it. I like her. We leave the bedroom and I ask her to wait for me to call Near, once I guess he is waiting for me to go down to have lunch.

I knock the door and just wait for a few seconds until my brother open the door and push himself to smile at me.

"Hello, Kim." As I can see, Near is already used to my codename. I am also used to his… Even as a weird choice, "Near" seems to be made to be used as my brother's codename. "How are you?"

"Hello, Ne-Ne. I'm fine, and you?" I stroke his white hair and look at his dark-green eyes… They have no expression. They used to. I used to be able to almost read Nate's mind by simply look into his eyes. Is it the feeling of loss? Is it a result of pain? Are my eyes inexpressive too? Do I still have any emotion into my eyes? Well, if no one can see my pain, it will be better.

I have no more time to reflections, because Iris literally jumped over Near, hugging him and describing exactly how cute he is. How did I say? Oh, yes, she is like a child. After a while, my new friend finally releases Near and starts telling me that he is cute and looks like a baby as if I hadn't ever realise it.

"Hey, Snowdrop." Something touches my head, probably Mello's hands. "I see that you already met your roommate." He says.

"My name is not Snowdrop!" I say coldly. "And, yes, I met Iris."

"Okay, Little Cloud, don't need to be angry with me. So, which codename did you choose?"

"I went for Kim, in the end." My voice still motionless.

"It's a nice name with an interesting meaning that may be understood in many ways. But I still prefer Snowdrop." He is laughing at me now.

"Yes, Mello, there is almost no melanin inside of me. Yes, my eyes are purple. Yes, my organs are white as well. Yes, my skin burns in the sun and yes, I can die because of that. So what?" I hate when people make jokes about my albinism. It's part of me and I got used to it long ago. I like it, actually. It makes me look like my mother, except that she used to have blue eyes.

"I don't have any problem with your albinism, I just think that Snowdrop is a good nickname, because you are small and white, like a snowdrop. You know? The flower? Yeah, that's it. No prejudice. I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't intent to and I will keep calling you Snowdrop." He says before a red-haired boy come out from the bedroom beside Near's. The boy sends us a friendly smile and starts talking.

"You must be the annoying girl that Mello mentioned, right? And this is your brother." He says before seeing Iris, when his face goes red as a pepper. "O-Oh… Hello, -I-Iris" It makes me be forced to cover a laugh with my hand. The boy looks at me and blushes even further. Iris smiles at him, obviously ignoring his feelings for her.

"Hello, I'm Kim and this is Near. We are not annoying, he is. So… Who are you?"

"Matt. Hum… Would you three like to sit with us for the lunch?"

"Yeah, sure!" Iris answers for us. "If Mello promises he will not annoy me or get competitive or make anything bad for any of us." Matt looks at his friend… apparently his roommate, and begs with the eyes. Like any good friend would do, the blond nods in agreement.

We follow Mello and Matt to the dinning hall, a huge room full of squared tables, each one surrounded by four chairs. In the centre of heart of the room, there is an enormous table full of food. The variety is not big, but the smell is so good that the taste can't be bad. When we get into the dinning hall and walk toward a table, everyone looks at us as we were people from another planet. Well, this is for the boys. The girls just look at Mello and Matt as if they were gods. For one second, I wish I were invisible. I feel so small when people are looking at me! I feel even smaller than I actually am.

We go take our plates and the food in the central table and Mello almost freak out because of the quantity of food in my plate and just calms down when I explain him that I can't eat a lot and nothing he says will change it. Annoying blond boy…

Then we finally go sit in a table. I sit between Iris and Near and start eating before noticing that we have one spare chair. All of them seem to respect so much that space that it has to belong someone. But who's the owner of that sit between Mello and Iris?

"Who is supposed to sit there?" I finally ask.

"Oh. Damn, you are good on it." Says Matt. "It is L's sit. He doesn't usually eat in the dinning hall, but when he does he sits with us. I mean, we are the two ones competing to succeed him, right? We are L's friends."

"Oh fuck! Are you L's friends?" Sometimes Near doesn't control his own tongue.

"Near, watch you mouth!" I say.

"I mean… Duck. I said duck. So… Duck! Are you L's friends?" He corrects himself, making me laugh with his quick thinking. The other ones around the table start laughing as well before Mello's answer.

"Yeah, but his best friend is BB, if you know what I mean…" He says. Beside me, Iris smiles perversely, showing me her 'fujoshi' side.

"BB? You mean Beyond Birthday, the one from the Los Angeles BB Murder Case? Is him L's boyfriend? Oh, my god, this is what I call love!" I start yelling before my eyes stop at the wall behind Mello. My mouth closes and I feel my expression change to a sad one. Shit.

"What? Why are you looking at me, Snowdrop?" He asks,

"I am not looking at you. I am looking at the calendar behind you. Is it right? Is today October 22?"

"Yes, it is. Why? This time is Matt who answers. I slowly close my eyes and down my head, my white fringe covering my eyes. Why did it happen to me? It is so unfair!

"It can't be." Another tear falls trough my cheek, followed by another one and another one. Why did it happen? What did I do to deserve such a punishment? Why did my parents die in the day of my birthday?

"Oh, Kim… This is so unfair!" Ne-Ne hugs me again, trying to comfort me. "I wish you hadn't to feel all of this." I bury my nose into Near's white, short and soft hair, breathing his sweet, warm and childish peculiar smell. It smells like home. It helps me to calm down.

"What is happening?" Iris also hugs me.

"Today is her birthday." He is sobbing a little bit as well.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Kim." Matt and Iris say at the exactly same time.

"I'm sorry, Snowdrop."

"I-I'm going to be ok… I… Well, this kind of thing happens, right? I think I just need time to get used to it… Right?" I ask. I am actually asking. They… They already know what I am feeling, right? Maybe they are able to answer me.

A few moments pass before someone answers me. I was too concentrated on stop my tears to notice which one of them was talking to me.

"You get used after a while. Some people can't, but normally Wammy's House is easier to everyone." I raise my head from Near's hair and face the weirdest face ever. Cute, but weird. There are dark bags underneath his dark eyes; the hair looks like a rat's nest and his column is curved in a weird position. He must be about eighteen years old and looks a lot like Beyond Birthday, who I saw in a newspaper.

"I guess you are L. Thank you for the support."

"How do you know it?" He seems curious.

"They told me that you use to sit on this table… And there is no other table that close from this one, so you were obviously coming here. And you look different from everyone else. You look smarter… older, but not in age. And you look like Beyond Birthday as well. And in the newspaper was written that he wanted to compete with you, what makes sense, because he was letting clues behind, like the dolls, so at the time I guessed you were similar to him in the way of thinking… Now that I see you, everything fits even more."

"Good… I was right, you are an intelligent girl. Congratulations, somehow you was able to impress me. Oh, and by the way, at the orphanage you shall call me Ryuuzaki. L is just for working."

"Sure, sorry about that."

"So… Which codename did you two choose?"

"I'm Near and she is Kim." My brother speaks for me. It was really good to show my thinking skills for a moment, because it distracted me from… other subjects.

A little time pass until we completely end the lunch and go out to spend the time. We sit in the stairs in front of the main door of the house that looks like a church and talk. We talk about everything and anything. We talk about the weather, the classes in the orphanage and about the reasons of our choices for the codenames. And of course I received about a hundred nicknames from Mello, all of them because of the albinism and my height. He called me Ghostie, Cloud, Vanilla-Ice-Cream, Fuko*, Paper, Ant… But most of the time he just called me Snowdrop.

After a while, a red-haired girl who must be about six years old comes and asks Near to play, introducing herself as Leila. My brother looks at me, completely nervous about playing with her. He is really shy sometimes… That's another reason for him to be so cute. I start laughing at his fear of playing with someone who he doesn't know.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I ask. Surprisingly, he answers that he wants me to go with him. That's my brother… So shy! So cute… "Hum… See you later, guys." And Leila, Near and me start running to catch each other. I am obviously the faster between us. And I keep being the faster when Iris comes to play as well. And then Matt comes to join us. Then Mello comes as well. And, finally, even the legendary L, I mean, Ryuuzaki, comes to play like a little child. Yes… If everyday is going to be like that one, I can get used to this life.


	3. Swimming Class

**KIM'S POINT OF VIEW**

I climb into bed and go under the blanket when Iris turns off the light and jumps on her own bed, talking about how happy she is because I am her roommate. I never thought I would like someone who talks this much, but Iris is so kind, so friendly, that is almost impossible to _do not_ like her. Anyway, I guess I never thought about losing my parents; living in an orphanage for genius to compete against other like me to succeed L, the greatest detective ever; or even sleeping on a bunk bed. How stupid I was at yesterday's mourning…

"So… Do you have any family out of the orphanage?" Iris's voice wakes me up from my wandering.

"Well… I am not sure if I can call that a family, but there are my aunt Sara and my cousins, Bonnie and Lily. Near hates them as much as I do…" I start explaining her about my expanded family. "Once I caught them beating him… I mean, really hurting him. Of course I defended him and called them bitches and said everything that came to my mind at the time, and they let him go and went to tell aunt Sara… The problems was that me and my brother were there without our parents to spend one whole week with them… I think I still have scars of what she did to my back on that day." God, I hate her so much for this… I hate her for everything she called me as I felt my skin burn and bleed and held the screams and tears. I wouldn't cry, would I? Not in front of her. In front of my cousins… I wouldn't make my brother feel guilty for make me defend him.

"Did she hit you?"

"No, what she did was far worse than just hit me. She whipped me using a belt. It hurt a lot. At least we never saw her again after that. My mother discovered it when we were getting into the car and I started to scream and say I didn't want to sit down, because it would hurt me. She asked why and I told her. Of course she checked my back to see if I wasn't lying… I will never forget the way my parents yelled at my aunt. I honestly loved them even more after that day."

"What did she say?"

"She told what Bonnie and Lily told her. She told my parents I was a rude little girl who felt in the right to call her daughters bitches. Then of course my parents were angry with me too. Then I yelled at her and everyone else who wished to listen that I called her daughters exactly what they were, because they dared hit my little brother because he had no reaction when they broke his favourite toy. After that day we didn't spend even the Christmas with them." I feel the anger coming back to my voice and mind as I remember that moment. When my parents discovered that I was whipped by my aunt to defend my brother, who was hit by my cousins, we left the house forever and bought an ice-bag in the first place that appeared.

Suddenly a noise takes over the room and makes Iris literally jumps and makes the bed shake a little bit.

"K-Kim? I… I had a nightmare." My brother is in the room, standing in front of the door and holding his favourite robot. Immediately my friend runs to hug him and say that he is cute, childish and lovely and should not be scared. "Hum… Thank you, Iris. Kim, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course you can. Come here, Ne-Ne." And he comes, lying beside me as I hug his small and warm body. Near is sweaty and shaking, hugging the robot I gave him on his seventh birthday. "What was your nightmare about?"

"Yeah, tell people about nightmares make them sound silly and childish." Iris makes her comment from the bed beneath mine.

"Well…" He starts, but doesn't keep talking.

"Did your robot jump trough the window again?" I ask, making my friend laugh. Near whispers so low with his childish voice that is hard to understand that he said 'no'. "What happened, then?"

"It… It was like happened yesterday. But… You were not there. I was alone in the wardrobe and I tried to look out of the door to look for you. And you were there and there was a man without a face whipping you like aunt Sara did on that day." He stops talking to sob and hug me a little bit harder. "And then… And then he… he told me to come out, because he would take me to mom and dad. And you were dead too and he… he… he started to whip me as well and it hurt and then, when he was about to kill me… I woke up."

"Oh, Ne-Ne, this is so horrible!" My arms hold his head on my chest, stroking is wet hair. "God, you are so nervous! Try to relax, ok? It's all right; you are all right. I will never let anyone hurt you again."

I spend at least a half an hour trying to make my brother stop crying and sleep before deciding it will not happen, at least for tonight. Near is too nervous, to scared and too shocked to sleep. Everything he can do is hugging me and cry minute after minute. It is not normal to him to deal with death or either to dream with both of us being tortured and killed.

After several minutes of talking – time during which I tried to make him relax and think of nice things, like puzzles and puppies. – We finally change subject to the saddest possible, at least to talk about before sleeping.

Near hesitates for a moment before slowly opening his mouth to speak.

"Do you know when will be the funeral?"

"I guess they are investigating. If you want to, we can talk to Roger or Watari tomorrow. They will certainly know if there is the date and, if there is, what day will it happen. For now, just sleep."

"But… But… Kim, I am…"

"You are tired, Near. You are exhausted after losing our parents, it is normal to have nightmares and I understand you are scared, but after a nightmare you always wake up, no matter what. And when you wake up I will always be here, in the same bed or in the bedroom beside yours. You can call me anytime, ok? I'm right here." I change my arguments and start to make him think that there is no problem on sleeping right now. I don't want my brother to have problems to sleep. It happened once when we were younger and that was like hell. He came into my room to stay with me night after night, scared of monsters, the school, aunt Sara, or a nightmare… Anything. After a while I found out he was being bullied and I fought with two boys on my age to defend him. Of course I didn't do that alone; my friend Mihael helped me. Mihael was a very close friend of mine when I was three years old… He disappeared completely when he was nine and I was eight… He and his friend, Mail. Someone told me they were killed. I doubt it. Mihael was too smart to be killed.

Meanwhile I think of old friendships, Ne-Ne finally felt asleep on my bed. Finally.

I close my eyes, hugging his warm and small body.

"Hum… Mommy…" He whispers, curling against my chest. I kiss his forehead before falling asleep as well.

•••

**NEAR'S POINT OF VIEW**

I wake up still hugging my sister. It was no nightmare; it was real. I did lose my parents; I am in Wammy's House with Katherine, who changed her name to Kim. My name is Near, not Nate. I wish it were different. But once I can't change it, then I guess it's better to stay here where I have my sister with me, and people who are nice.

"Already awake?" Kim's voice is as sleepy as she is, her eyes still closed.

"Yeah. I guess we should go have breakfast. I'm hungry."

We go out of the bed and I blush a little bit as my sister gets changed. I know, she is my sister and I am nine years old, but I still shy and she still a girl, right? Anyway, I leave the room to change the pyjama for something else. Back to my Kim's bedroom, she and Iris are already ready for the breakfast and we go out again.

This time, Mello is outside, obviously waiting for Matt, who doesn't take a long time to join us. As we walk to the canteen, I keep hearing the jokes about albinism from Mello. He makes me remember someone, but I don't know whom. Well, maybe I remember someday. Kat is walking behind me, trying to stop the blond by slapping his arm. The chances of success are less than 2% and I guess she knows it as well, but doesn't want to stop. Silly girl.

"Snowdrop, can you please stop it?"

"My name is not Snowdrop!" She yells at him.

"For me it is, all right? I like this nickname and nothing will never change it." He answers and she desists. I guess there are worse nicknames… I even like this one, I could call her Snowdrop, if I didn't think this nicknames is just for Mello's use.

We arrive at the canteen and chose the food for the breakfast. I take a bowl of strawberry yoghurt with cornflakes and a glass of orange juice. Kat, as usual, drinks a cup of hot chocolate… Sorry, of chocolate with hot milk - because hot chocolate is milk with chocolate, not the opposite-, and a toast with strawberry jam and butter. Mello drinks the same as her and eats a chocolate cake. If the cake didn't look so good, I would feel sick. Iris eats an apple, some biscuits and drinks apple juice. Matt is eating cornflakes as well, but just with milk. L is not here, what makes me think that he doesn't have breakfast. People here are really weird.

Kim spends all the time at the table writing something on a small notebook. I wonder if she is becoming weird like them… I hope not, but it seems a little bit impossible. Soon even I will start to act weird, right? Well, I don't mind. Who cares?

Today is Wednesday, so we will have a swimming class. I am not very good on swimming, but Kim is. She is like a fish. Okay, like a dolphin, because she needs to breath.

"Hey, we have swimming class today, right?" My question is just a way to keep the conversation in progress; otherwise I will start thinking about sad things

"Yes. We have three different classes at the same time, in three different pools. In which one are you?" Asks Iris.

"Kim is probably in a higher class than me. I'm not very good, but she is." I explain, making my sister blush. She doesn't like too much attention to herself, preferring to hide behind an apathetic façade. She is not apathetic, normally, just shy. Her disinterest appears only when she is in the presence of dumb or rude people. I guess that's why she is so smart.

"This is nice. Mello is good as well… We should make a little competition between them after the class…" Matt gives his opinion with his eyes on the PSP. He is funny…

"If she is actually good, I agree. Let's decide it after the class." That's Mello's answer. Stupid. Who does he make me remember of? This is so frustrating!

Well, I guess it's better to find something to do until 2pm… it's only 11am.

I leave the canteen and go to the playroom. Certainly I will find some dice there. Or a puzzle… I would love to find a puzzle, a big and difficult one. It's the perfect sensation when two pieces fit in your hands and, in the end, you see what does that secret image shows you. The best thing about puzzles is that, once you finished it, it has no value. So much effort for absolutely nothing and, even with this in my head, I still wish to finish one only for the pleasure of a challenge.

"What are you going to do?" My sister's voice comes from behind me. I didn't think she would come, but her presence relaxes me. I simply love her… And she smells like mom. I hug her, breathing her sweet and unique fragrance. Her smell is a little bit more like chocolate than mom's, but still similar. I wish my mother were here with us. I would fell well.

"Just trying to find a puzzle."

"Ne-Ne… I wish she were here as well." It's amazing. Kim seems to be able to read my mind. "You are easy to read, you know? At least this is what I think. Let's find us a puzzle."

We find a puzzle without image. Just white. There are only 500 pieces, so it will be quite easy.

Soon the white rectangle is ready. It is useless, as every other puzzle, but it still giving me the sensation of success, of victory. This is simply perfect, like every other puzzle. I check the clock. 1:30pm.

"Now we shall go get changed to the swimming class. Let's go, I don't want to be late."

I stand up and she does the same before following me to the corridor of our bedrooms. I go into mine and she goes to hers.

•••

**KIM'S POINT OF VIEW**

I put on my old purple bikini and a take a towel before tying my long and white hair and putting old shorts to hide my tights during the time when I am not swimming. I also take clean underwear, bra and a dress to wear after the class, once we take our showers in the changing rooms of the pool.

"Well, I don't have any other swimwear or goggles, so that's it." I say. Iris doesn't seem to have anything but a red bikini and a bathrobe. She looks at me in a weird way.

"Wow! You have a really nice body, Kim!" Actually I think she is wrong. I am weirdly slim and my breasts are quite small, so no one would actually look at my body. Actually no one would like me at all. I don't really mind… Who cares? It's not that important, anyway.

"Thank you." I say coldly. "Let's go to the pool." I always liked to swim… That was how, when I was eight years old, I met Mihael, my first and closest friend. I miss him…

Once we leave the bedroom, Iris shows me the way to the swimming pools and we leave our stuff in the girls' changing room. Now my body is almost completely exposed, but I don't really care about this. I've been swimming in the school's pool since the age of seven, what makes me perfectly used to be seen in swimwear.

Mello, Matt and Near are already in the pool, but L isn't here. If he is supposed to have a swimming class, he will be late for this. Anyway, I jump in the water without mind with the cold temperature. Of course my body froze and I had to hug my little brother and Iris to warm up again, but I don't really care about this. The blond doesn't stop to look at me… It is a little bit scary.

"So, are you actually good?" He asks, but just by looking at his eyes I can see that he is thinking of something else.

"Yes." I say.

"Are you able to compete with me?"

"I guess so. Let's do it after the class." I say, smiling at him and making him look… Sad. Why is him sad? I have to study more his personality.

The class has a calm, easy start. We just swim around in out favourite style to warm up and, then, start the hard exercises. The teacher makes us spend at least fifteen minutes trying to cross the pool without breathe. Mello, a unknown girl in the other side of the pool and me were the only ones who could do it. Then it is time to the backstroke, butterfly – the hardest one, in my opinion -, and breaststroke; that has a hard technique, but is easy once you learn. I am not pushing myself today, to save my strong to the competition after the class, but still right behind Mello all the time. He is competitive… I have to write it in my new notebook that I use to research about my friends' personalities and habits.

Finally the swimming class is end. Matt, Iris, Near and another girl, an Asian girl with purple hair and black eyes, go out of the pool to watch. Mello and me prepare to swim as fast as we can as he does the same. He seems to suffer of some inferiority complex… I guess that, in his opinion, he cannot lose. If he is not the first, it's a sign of total failure. Well, I would like to let him win, but I am too stubborn to do this kind of thing.

Matt tell us to start and I swim as fast as I can, but keeping the movements completely perfect. I can't wrong, otherwise the victory will be impossible for me. Finally, my hand reaches the edge and I go out of the water, my lungs seem close to explode. Mello also reached the edge.

"So… Who won?" I ask.

"Well… actually both of you won. You reached the edge at the same time." Iris is the one who answers. It makes me happy. I either lost or won, so I will not be angry with myself or make an enemy, because I really want Mello to be my friend.

"How the hell… No, wait, it can't be. Are you sure there was no difference?" Yeah, maybe he is angry after all. I don't know what to now. I can't swim again right now. Maybe apologise, but for what? Apologise because I did not lose is not an alternative to me, this would be ridiculous and pointless. It is only his fault if he cannot control his inferiority complex, so there is no need to apologise.

"No, no difference. Accept it, Mello, she is as good as you are."

"Matt, there is only one person in the world who can defeat me when inside a pool, you know it even better than me." I wonder who else can win from Mello… I mean, someone who doesn't swim professionally.

"Come here." For some reason, it seams to make the redhead angry, or at least worried. They move away from us to talk and I watch as they argue about something that seems important. So the Asian girl sits beside me. Now I can see her Visual Kei like haircut, but longer, and hear her Japanese accent when she speaks.

"Do you want to know what they are saying?"

"Yes, please."

"_Matto-kun_ is telling Mello-kun that he must forget something… A girl." I almost laugh when she says Matt's name in her Japanese way. I always thought it was cute. Well, anyway, whom does Mello need to forget about? "Mello-kun said he is trying, but it was the same as trying to make Matto-kun forget about… _her."_ The one who Matt needs to forget is obviously Iris, but who is the one Mello needs to forget?

"Who is the one Mello needs to forget?" I ask. Once this girl has been here for longer than I had, then she might know the answer.

"I don't know, but I think is someone from his past. Anyway, Mello-kun is quite scary sometimes and he may be angry if someone starts to investigate his life." She answers. "Let's go to the changing room and have a shower. Oh, I'm Ushio, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kim."

"Hai, I know. You probably moved me down for the fifth place in Wammy's. Or maybe it was your brother. It is not that horrible, I guess. I still the fifth most intelligent fifteen-year-old girl in the world, isn't it?" She is not so bad loser as Mello. Actually Ushio seems very nice, although she is as apathetic as I pretend to be when I'm near stupid people – and no, I don't think she thinks I'm stupid.

In the shower, it's hard to stop thinking of Mello's mysterious past. Who is the girl he must forget? Is she dead or was simply left behind when his parents died? Why do I have this weird feeling, a kind of fear, or a missing feeling, when I think of this? Maybe it is better to talk about this with Near, he might know what to do. My brother is always good with problems like this one – and many others.

Once I go get dressed, Iris is already dressed and waiting for me as Ushio wears a black, visual kei style mini-skirt, heavy black shoes and a delicate shirt with long lacy sleeves under a black leather vest. She is also wearing a visual-kei-style-make-up on her eyes, what is a little bit… How can I say? Exaggerated? Anyway it goes with her, for some reason.

"Well, jya ne." She says before leaving the changing room. Iris waits for a moment before speaking.

"This is Ushio. She is from Japan, but used to live in Brazil. She is quite depressed, but it's nothing against you or anyone, that's because of her parent's death and her best friend is in an orphanage in Brazil, waiting for his permission to come to Wammy's as well. She doesn't have any friend in the orphanage because of her creepy style, but she is nice. We sit together for lunch sometimes and we talk a lot, but I don't think she wants to be my friend…"

"Maybe she is just too shy." I answer, thinking of my first friendship. It started with a fight, actually. A little smile appears on my face as I think again of Mihael, my first friend. It was really hard for me at school before meeting him, because of the albinism. "You know, when you are different, people bully you no matter what. I used to have this kind of problem because of the albinism; I had no friends until six years old, when we met… He was my first friend, but disappeared when I was nine."

"Who? Now you got to tell me his name! He is your fated person! Suddenly he will re-appear in your life and stay with you forever! Once Ushio told me a story about this kind of thing, let's ask her!" Suddenly my friend stands up and starts jumping around me, holding my hand and pulling me out of the changing room.

"I will not tell you! I never told anybody! Seriously, I don't want to remember forever, Iris." I pull my arm back, now a little sad, and she looks at me with a worried expression. "One of his friends told me he is dead. Please, let's just forget it happened, ok?"

Her face changes completely. The happy smile disappears slowly and tears fill her eyes as her lower lip starts to shake and she cries. Why is she crying? Is it because of Mihael, someone whom she doesn't even know? Anyway I hug my friend and try to comfort her. I simply cannot understand why is she crying.

"Did I make you remember something bad? I'm sorry, I didn't intend to make you cry."

"It's not this… I'm crying for you, because this is so unfair. You should not have lost your only friend, it's no fair!" Her voice sounds weak, sad. It's hard to understand what she is saying.

"I'm all right with this. I am not sad anymore, I already accepted this. Of course I miss him, but there is no point on being sad forever because of something I can't change."

"This is really sad. Well, sorry for crying, that was because the death of your friend really affected me." Then I hear steps coming from behind me.

"Who died?" This is Mello's voice. Matt is already comforting Iris, so he doesn't say anything.

"My childhood friend, or at least this is what his friend said to me. I told her about him and she started to cry." I explain him, but Mello's expression doesn't change. Maybe he intends to keep asking me questions.

"Who? What happened?"

"Well, when I was six years old I met this friend, whose name I am not telling you, and he disappeared three years later. One of his friends told me he died when I asked him what happened." His hand rests on my shoulder for one moment in a condolence gesture.

"Sorry about your friend, Snowdrop." His face changes again, now as if he was thinking with all his strength, trying to understand or discover something really important. Well, Mello is a weird person. "And sorry about the swimming thing, it's just my personality." He says before leaving.


	4. Am I right?

I wonder when will be our parents' funeral. I want it to end, something that represents an end of all of it, so Nate and me will be able to start our own changes to a life as Kim an Near instead of a life as Katherine and Nate. There are so many things both of us need to forget!

My hair still wet as I walk to Roger's room in order to ask him about my parents'. I knock the door and wait until the old man's voice asks me to go in. He is sitting behind the large desk, in the same position as he was in the last time I came here – yesterday -, what makes me think that this is usual for him.

"Hello, Kim. How can I help you?"

"Well, yesterday at night my brother came to our room because of a nightmare and asked to sleep with me and we were talking and started to wonder when will be our parents' funeral, so I promised him I would ask you."

"I see. It is almost ironic that this information came to me five minutes ago. Your parents' burial will be tomorrow at 6pm. I will ask Watari to take you there, all right?" He explains me. Ironic, that's true. My brother will probably be happy it all will end soon.

"Hum." I nod. "Thank you, Roger." With this last sentence, my little meeting with the orphanage's director is finished. Honestly, it is easier to talk to him then to my old school's director. Life here seems easier, because everyone seems to be abnormal like me. It is like Charles Xavier idea for a house for mutants in X-Men, but we are intelligent, not supernatural.

Once I leave the room, an already known blond boy goes in, obviously bored, what makes me think that he is there to receive a sermon for something wrong he might have done. How can he be able to do something bad in less than fifteen minutes since I last saw him?

"Hey, Snowdrop." His hand messes my hair as he goes to talk to Roger.

"See you, Mello."

Now it is time to go talk to my brother, once he will obviously want to know my discoveries. He probably went back to the playroom, assembling another puzzle or building a dice castle.

I walk to the place where Near and me spent the mourning, ignoring everything around me. A blonde girl, Linda, I think, bumps into me in the way, almost dropping me again. Why do I have to be so short and skinny? Oh, yes, that's because eating is not one of my favourite activities.

Well, there is Near, building a castle of Lego in the company of yesterday's redhead girl, Leila. She seems nice to him. Since we came to Wammy's – at yesterday's mourning -, she is the only one apart for me who could make him smile. Once he is having fun with his friend, I decide to tell him later. So, I go in the playroom and sit beside them, being solemnly ignored by both of them. Considering this fact, I go to my next project, the Japanese-Visual-Kei girl from the swimming class, who is sitting on the corner of the room as she listens to music and does something in silver laptop. All right, she is an otaku as well… I don't know how to deal with this, but I want to be her friend.

"Hello." I say.

"Kon'nichiwa, shōjo." She answers, but I have no idea of what the hell is she saying.

"Hum… Sorry?"

"Oh! Gomenasai! I forgot I'm in England! I mean, hello, girl!" Yes, it makes more sense. Well, maybe she can teach me some Japanese, once I'm really good with languages. "Sit down, if you like."

This is what I do, sitting beside her and discovering that she is reading a manga and talking to someone Romanised Japanese – I realise it because in the start of the conversation is writing 'kon'nichiwa'-, and a language that I guess is Portuguese, because it's very similar to Spanish, but not identical. It's also very different from Italian, but with the same origins. "Vamos falar pela câmera", is the last thing she wrote, this time in Portuguese. "Ok", answered the person to whom she is talking.

After a few failed attempts, I finally can see her friend, a boy with light brown eyes that look like honey and a messy, spiky black hair with orange tips. His smile looks like the smile of one of the boys the wallpaper of Ushio's computer.

"He looks like this guy." I indicate the picture.

"Yes, I think the same. See, Ino-chan? I told you look like Kai."

"No one in Brazil knows who is Kai, so I can find no one to ask… I have to go to Wammy's, Shio-chan! _Funk_ is taking over! I would prefer anything instead of funk! I don't want to spend all the day listening to bastards singing that girls shall all become bitches and let gays rape them everyday." Well, Ino's English is much better than I thought it would be… Normally, in Brazil, people don't speak English properly. Although his accent, his English is quite good. "So, who are you?"

"I'm Kim… And you?"

"Ino, as you must already know. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you." I say. Beside me, Ushio laughs for a moment. I have no idea of what may be funny about what is happening here. I look at her, asking in silence.

"Never mind."

"Okay. Well, see you latter. Bye, Ino." Then I leave. I have to talk to Near now… my brother must know about tomorrow's funeral. I wonder if anyone else will come, but I doubt it. They would discover our names.

Now that I finally could make Near stop crying, I guess we should go down for dinner. We walk down the stairs until we reach the dinning hall and go straight to our friends' table. L is not here today, he is probably working at his bedroom.

We don't speak anything at all during the whole dinnertime. Mello is looking at me in a weird way, as if he were… studying me. Trying to know me better, or like a stalker looks at his next victim. Or maybe it is a kind of Mello's particular way to evaluate someone. Or maybe it's not only Mello, once I'm sure I already saw someone looking at me like this… Mello makes me remember of someone I know, or at least someone I knew. Who was this? Not any relative… an old friend? No, there is only Mihael and Mihael is dead, isn't him? Or not? Is it possible that, five years after losing my best and only friend, I finally found him because I lost my parents? Is it possible that Mihael came to the same orphanage as my brother and me? This kind of coincidence doesn't exist, it is impossible, Mihael is dead, no one would create such a lie and tell all his friends and making them suffer… Isn't it? But, in the other hand, what would they tell everyone? "Hey, guys, your friend Mihael lost his parents and left you. He will live in Wammy's House, preparing himself to succeed L, the greatest detective ever." I don't think so. I don't think that's what they've told my class about what happened to me. Probably everyone thinks I am dead as well. Perfect story, isn't it? A man appears at night in someone's house and kills all the family after an unsuccessful robbery. Not that impossible, is it? Not as impossible as having two surviving children being sent to an orphanage to prepare to succeed L. When the lie makes more sense than the true, you shall not try to convince people of the real occurred – I mean, if the lie is more advantageous to you -. And, after all, our identities must be a total secret. Not even the government knows about who we are, right? So why should anyone tell a group of teenagers and their teachers?

And that's why I start facing Mello as well.

As soon as we all go to the bedrooms, I start to interrogate Iris about Mello. I need to know about him, I got to be sure… What if he _is_ my Mihael? It would be so happy!

"When did Mello come to Wammy's House?"

"I think it was in 2000… I'm not quite sure."

"Is there anyone who could tell me the exact date? Does L know?"

"I think so, but what's the reason for all this interest on Mello? Do you like him?" I know exactly what she is asking me, and I guess I would ask me the same if I were in her position. I mean… In today's society, most of the girls start asking about boys' lives when there is some romantic interest involved.

"No, not at all, I just want to check something…"

"What? You can tell me, I will not tell anyone." I knew she would ask this kind of question. And, considering that there is no way for her to find out my identity or Mello's, I don't think there is any danger on telling her this.

"I think Mello is that friend I told you. It would be the perfect excuse; everyone died in the accident, everyone was killed… I don't think your friends know you are alive either. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to hide our identities, don't you think?" My voice sounds a bit creepy as I tell her my theory.

"I've never thought about this. Yes, probably they think we are dead or they would find a way to get in touch… at least the most curious friends. Well, L will know. I hope he is your friend…"

"Yes. I hope they are the same person." I answer slowly.

_Mihael… I want it to be true. I need you to be with me… I just want to hug you again, because when you hugged me I used to feel safe. I need the safety of your arms again. You were like a brother to me… I miss you so much!_

I wish he could hear me. My Mihael is so far and so close at the same time! Does he think the same? Am I right? Is Mello my best friend? If I'm he is actually him, does he still the same? Does Mihael, or Mello, still with the same personality?

I hope so.


End file.
